So happy so many of you are also interested in finding, sharing, and discussing new ways to better our communities! I hope everyone finds inspiration here and we all get to brighten up our little corners of the world.
I would love to hear from people about what is working in your community.
What does your community have or do that you think is going well? (Maybe its a neat festival. Maybe it’s a community centre like a workshop or garden. Share the ideas!)
What small things have you done that you would like to do more of? (Cleaned up rubbish on the beach? Planted some trees? Helped with a fundraiser or event? Good on you, we’re all proud! Tell us so we can all get motivated to go out and do the same)
What are you wanting for your community? (Maybe its helping with food insecurity, maybe its cleaning up parks or planting trees, maybe it’s better public transport)
No task is too big or too small to share, this is a place of positivity and celebration ✨️
Here’s an article with links to resources on starting your own library of things. It’s US centric but still has good ideas I’ve been stealing for getting ours organised
Yay home brew! I live in hops central so while i have a couple plants on the deck, it’s easy enough to grab some wildling bunches by the river cycle path. I can’t have any alcohol with my medications so our home brew equipment is gathering some dust atm but I’ve been seeing more alcohol free options so I’d like to try making my own. I have planted a hundred + feijoas so I was thinking of doing a feijoa fest and bottle sesh where we all get together, bottle, and share the spoils but I’m not sure the legalities on large-scale community food production. Something i need to sort out.
Anyways please share all your favourite home brew tips and if you have any knowledge on making some alcohol free varties let me know!
Oooh interesting! I’m not sure about brewing alcohol free, but it’s something I’d be interesting in learning more about for sure!
I know with feijoa you can make soda real easy with the skins by just letting them sit in a bottle of sugar water - it’ll naturally carbonate and will be very low/no alcohol!
I’ve found wine really simple to make - the formula of fruit, water, sugar, and yeast is pretty much always the same and it’s very much a set it and leave it once it gets going! The waiting is the hardest part 😅
Yes! Feijoa fizz! That’s exactly what I was thinking of making as it would be family friendly. I haven’t made any wine but i was planning on trying some elderberry champagne and gorse flower champagne this spring. I won’t be able to drink it myself which will be lame though 😮💨
Oh exciting!
I’ve recently got into making kombucha, too, which has been a lot of fun - family friendly and you can play around with using different teas. A favourite so far has been made with a pear and caramel black tea!
It works so well for me cos kombucha is quick turnaround, beer takes a few weeks, and wine a few months - so it helps with my impatience 😅
Ooooo that sounds so good! I would love a recipe! Did you make your own starter or get one from somewhere?
I made my own starter using buch from the supermarket! You just have to make sure it hasn’t been pasteurised - if it’s got bits in it, you’re good.
I boiled some water, added sugar and a few teabags and let it sit until room temp, then put that and about 100ml of the store kombucha into a large wide topped jar until the scoby formed. Then you basically repeat in a larger vessel, adding the scoby and some of the starter, start tasting after 3-5 days til it gets to your desired sweet/sour level!
If you want to you can then put it into swing top bottles to carbonate, but I like it mildly fizzy straight from the initial fermentation. I picked up a cute pineapple shaped glass vessel from kmart with a tap and it’s great!
For flavours, i just use flavoured tea! I always add one or two gumboot black tea bags along with them to make sure the scoby gets the nutrients it needs.
Thank you so much! I’m going to give this a go after payday and my supplies run to town. Sounds like you’re in my corner of the world so do you have a recc for an unpasteurised kombucha you like?
I have a glass beehive that I think is originally from kmart but my mate found it for me at the dump.
Fun! I think i usually get the Remedy brand, but can’t remember for sure! They should say on the label that it’s unpasteurised, and you can usually see bits floating at the bottom of the bottle!